Films: The Eagle (2011)

Dir: Kevin McDonald
Cast: Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Donald Sutherland

It's a swords and sandals road movie. Of course!

In a nutshell, this film is about the treacherous journey which two young enemies undergo in order to regain lost honour. The men must cross Hadrian's Wall into the unknown and unforgiving northern territories of Britain in search of the lost golden eagle standard of Rome.

What I loved about this film was that it didn't try to be Gladiator, 300 or Ben Hur. Yes, there are some incredibly intense and 'epic' battle scenes. And yes, the guys all run around in skirts and sandals. But at it's core, this film is about the relationship between the two protagonists and it is wonderfully applicable and contemporary.

Tatum and Bell are two incredibly talented young actors and they hold your attention for the entire film. Their relationship is gripping, tense, uncertain and eventually very heartwarming. They both deliver incredible combat sequences as well as poignant emotional moments perfectly. And, lets face it, they both look great on screen too! Accompanied by some breathtaking landscapes, and a smattering of kooky characters speaking rustic languages, the film has a a great authenticity about it. McDonald made a conscious decision to limit the use of CGI and I think it really paid off.

My rating: **** 4/5 stars
Recommendation: A gripping and heart-felt movie about respect, honour and friendship, that takes itself a little too seriously at times, but just about gets away with it.

Films: Limitless (2011)

Dir. Neil Burger
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Robert DeNiro, Anna Friel

We have all imagined what our lives could be if there was just one quick fix to sort out all of our problems. And that is exactly what Eddie Morra finds in a mysterious clear pill called NZT. The drug instantly activates the entire brain, spilling out facts, numbers, details and knowledge that would otherwise be lying dormant. It makes Eddie a very rich, very powerful man. However, he soon discovers that there is a very dark and deadly side to this life enhancing drug and finds himself on the run from some unsavoury (yet disappointingly stereotypical) underworld characters.

The film uses a lot of choppy, fast paced sequences, designed to mimic the effects of NZT on its addicts. However, this is often disorientating and prevents the story from flowing. Similarly, the first half of the film plays out very much like a typical action thriller, with a bit of flashy camerawork and photography thrown in. As Morra delves deeper into the world of addiction, however, the heart pumping action moments are replaced by some fairly gratuitous bloody fight scenes. Of course, we are being shown the seriousness of the situation, and the lengths to which NZT addiction will take its users, but it just didn't seem to fit the rest of the film. I didn't need to see a man being stabbed in the eye with a syringe!

Bradley Cooper (really the selling point of this movie for me) plays a likeable character, who you just wish manages to free himself of his addiction. DeNiro is intimidating as Morra's boss, but does not make such an impact in this film that you would rank it highly among his other cinematic achievements. And Morra's on-again-off-again girlfriend Lindy (Cornish) is flawlessly beautiful but rather incomplete as a character.

In short, the film is interesting and watchable to the end - which offers perhaps the most cunning and well put together scene in the movie. However, it is slightly clunky and self indulgent in its execution.

My rating: *** 3/5 stars
Recommendation: For a fast paced drug-based thriller, it does the job.

Films: Knowing

Film: Knowing (2009)
Dir. Alex Proyas
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Chandler Canterbury, Rose Byrne, Lara Robinson

The trailer for this film made me think 'big Hollywood end-of-the-world disaster movie only to be solved by an American hero.' How wrong could I be?

The basic premise of the story is that, in a time capsule buried in the 1950s, a young girl cursed by whispered voices in her head has left behind a double page of seemingly unrelated numbers. John Koestler (Nick Cage) is a widowed scientist who happens upon the numbers, and begins to find strange patterns within them. The code tells of 5 decades of human suffering and death, including the date in which his own wife died in a hotel fire. There are three dates remaining so John takes it upon himself to prove the code right, and save some lives in the process. His young son gets dragged in to the nightmare, along with the little girl's now grown up daughter (Rose Byrne) and her own child (Robinson). The film follows John as he begins to find reason and order in a world which he previously thought was random and coincidental.

Knowing is full of bone chilling moments of suspense, particularly with the recurring presence of a group of whispering, shadow-faced men in trench coats. The visual effects are stunning, and will ultimately be lost on the small screen once this film makes it to dvd. It is a barrage of sounds and images which come at you from every angle, and when you are least expecting it. Cage gives a heartbreakingly convincing performance as the unlucky and tortured soul dealing with his wife's death, his son's apparent connection with another world, and the impending end of his own.

This film is a cinema must-see. Stay with it. I almost lost heart at certain points, one of which was the prelude to the ending. But I stuck with it, and left the cinema reeling with excitement and questions. The film's message is a baffling one and perhaps not always completely clear unless you have some knowledge of Old Testament bible imagery, of which there is plenty. However, it is a great talking point, well acted and spectacularly shot.

My rating: **** 4/5 stars
Reccommendation: Try and catch this before it leaves the cinema. Otherwise watch it with the surround sound fully turned up! Be patient and give it a chance. You'll be hooked.

Films: Hancock

Hancock (2008)
Dir. Peter Berg
Cast: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Eddie Marsan.

John Hancock is a man of amazing strength, ability and...terrible people skills! This guy can take a shower of bullets, walk into a moving freight train, jump a mile high and fly even further. However, blessed with all these powers, Hancock cannot seem to win over the public. The first we see of him in the film is mouthing off to a young boy and drinking neat whisky.

Ray and Mary Embrey are a well-to-do and optimistic couple who could probably use Hancock not turning up in their life, but when he saves Ray's life, that's just what he does. And straight away you can sense there's some major part of the Hancock story missing. Oddly, it seems to lie in Mary Embrey. At this point, the storytelling part of the film loses its way and becomes somewhat rushed and staccato. The film does not allow itself enough time to expand certain aspects of the story. So, sadly, we are left slightly befuddled by the action that unfolds.

And action it certainly is. The special effects in this film are sensational and this is what kept me watching. Smith is charming in his portrayal of a misguiged superhero and his dialogues with Ray Embrey (Bateman) produce some of the films finest comic moments. But it is the effects which will stay with you after you turn off the DVD player. Rapid, electric, faultless visuals create the insane idea that Will Smith really can do all these things. Come on, if any Hollywood actor can, it's Will!

My rating: **** 4/5 stars
Recommendation: What the film lacks in narrative it wins back in execution. It's a visual feast. Just don't lose sleep thinking about the story!